ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2198-8025
Current Organisations
UNSW Sydney
,
Merunova
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Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 22-09-2021
Publisher: Massachusetts Medical Society
Date: 31-03-2022
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMC2201612
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 06-05-2022
Abstract: Recently, Sun et al. published an article in Scientific Reports entitled: “Increased emergency cardiovascular events among under-40 population in Israel during vaccine rollout and third COVID-19 wave” [2]. In this paper, the authors highlighted correlations between the Israeli vaccine c aign and an increased number of severe cardiovascular event calls to Emergency Management Services in the under-40 population. Even if the correlation seemed statistically significant, it is, to our opinion, clinically irrelevant.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-06-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S00586-023-07813-2
Abstract: Recent signs of fraudulent behaviour in spine RCTs have queried the integrity of trials in the field. RCTs are particularly important due to the weight they are accorded in guiding treatment decisions, and thus, ensuring RCTs’ reliability is crucial. This study investigates the presence of non-random baseline frequency data in purported RCTs published in spine journals. A PubMed search was performed to obtain all RCTs published in four spine journals (Spine, The Spine Journal, the Journal of Neurosurgery Spine, and European Spine Journal) between Jan-2016 and Dec-2020. Baseline frequency data were extracted, and variable-wise p values were calculated using the Pearson Chi-squared test. These p values were combined for each study into study-wise p values using the Stouffer method. Studies with p values below 0.01 and 0.05 and those above 0.95 and 0.99 were reviewed. Results were compared to Carlisle’s 2017 survey of anaesthesia and critical care medicine RCTs. One hundred sixty-seven of the 228 studies identified were included. Study-wise p values were largely consistent with expected genuine randomized experiments. Slightly more study-wise p values above 0.99 were observed than expected, but a number of these had good explanations to account for that excess. The distribution of observed study-wise p values was more closely matched to the expected distribution than those in a similar survey of the anaesthesia and critical care medicine literature. The data surveyed do not show evidence of systemic fraudulent behaviour. Spine RCTs in major spine journals were found to be consistent with genuine random allocation and experimentally derived data.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-03-2023
DOI: 10.1007/S00586-023-07618-3
Abstract: Most diseases of the spine disproportionately impact older persons, with the modal (i.e., commonest) patient a female in their 8th decade of life. We examined the corpus of spinal RCTs to determine how many included “average” spine patients. We searched PubMed for randomized clinical trials published in the top 7 spine journals over a period of 5 years from 2016 to 2020 and extracted nominal upper age cut-offs and the distribution of ages actually recruited. We identified 186 trials of 26,238 patients. We found that only 4.8% of trials could be applied to an “average” 75-year-old patient. This age-based exclusion was not dependent on funding source. Age-based exclusion was exacerbated by explicit upper age cut-offs, however, the age-based exclusion went beyond explicit age cut-offs. Only few trials were applicable to older patients even amongst trials with no age cut-off specified. Age-based exclusion from clinical trials starts at late middle age. The mismatch between spinal patient’s age seen in clinical practice and spinal patient’s age in trials was so severe that over the 5 years (2016–2020) almost no RCT evidence was produced applicable to the “average” aged-patient across the body of literature available. In conclusion, age-based exclusion is ubiquitous, multifactorial, and happens on a supratrial level. Eliminating age-based exclusion involves more than an arbitrary lifting of explicitly stated upper age cut-offs. Instead, recommendations include increasing input from geriatricians and ethics committees, establishing updated or new models of cares, and creating new protocols to facilitate further research.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2022
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 20-06-2022
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-09-2019
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2019
DOI: 10.1002/JSP2.1060
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-07-2013
DOI: 10.1111/J.1440-1754.2012.02507.X
Abstract: Sydenham's chorea is a cardinal feature of rheumatic fever. It is known by its dyskinesia and susceptibility to carditis, but associated psychiatric disorder is being recognised. This has included tics and obsessive compulsive disorder, but we report hallucinations in an indigenous girl, suffering her third bout of chorea.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-10-2022
DOI: 10.3390/BIOMEDICINES10102621
Abstract: Background: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) manifests as the primary cause of spinal cord dysfunction and is non-traumatic, chronic and progressive in nature. Decompressive surgery is typically utilised to halt further disability and neurological dysfunction. The limitations of current diagnostic options surrounding assessment and prognostic potential render DCM still largely a clinical diagnosis. Aims: To outline the limitations of current diagnostic techniques, present evidence behind novel quantitative MRI (qMRI) techniques for assessing spinal cord integrity in DCM and suggest future directions. Method: Articles published up to November 2021 were retrieved from Medline, EMBASE and EBM using key search terms: spinal cord, spine, neck, MRI, magnetic resonance imaging, qMRI, T1, T2, T2*, R2*, DTI, diffusion tensor imaging, MT, magnetisation transfer, SWI, susceptibility weighted imaging, BOLD, blood oxygen level dependent, fMRI, functional magnetic resonance imaging, functional MRI, MRS, magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Results: A total of 2057 articles were retrieved with 68 articles included for analysis. The search yielded 2 articles on Quantitative T1 mapping which suggested higher T1 values in spinal cord of moderate-severe DCM 43 articles on DTI which indicated a strong correlation of fractional anisotropy and modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association scores 15 articles on fMRI (BOLD) which demonstrated positive correlation of functional connectivity and volume of activation of various connections in the brain with post-surgical recovery 6 articles on MRS which suggested that Choline/N-acetylaspartate (Cho/NAA) ratio presents the best correlation with DCM severity and 4 articles on MT which revealed a preliminary negative correlation of magnetisation transfer ratio with DCM severity. Notably, most studies were of low s le size with short timeframes within 6 months. Conclusions: Further longitudinal studies with higher s le sizes and longer time horizons are necessary to determine the full prognostic capacity of qMRI in DCM.
Publisher: Center for Open Science
Date: 14-05-2022
Abstract: Failure to account for population size introduces spuriouscorrelation for almost all diseases at a country level.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-01-2013
DOI: 10.1111/JPC.12095
Abstract: The study aims to assess the health burden of children admitted with 'scabies' to Mt Isa Hospital, the referral centre for North West Queensland, from 2006 to 2010. This is a retrospective chart audit of admissions of children with 'scabies' including age, sex, date, residence, Indigenous status, result of skin swabs and length of stay, and the number of admissions with acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and acute post-streptococcal glomerulo-nephritis (APSGN) in that period. Financial burden was estimated from daily bed costs and transportation. There were 113 admissions with mean age of 23/12: 11% were <2/12 and mean stay was 4.5 days. 19 were admitted twice, 5 thrice and 2 four times. 7 in iduals accounted for 25% of admissions. 'Scabies' accounted for 10.1% of medical admissions <5 years of age. Admissions increased from 10 in 2005 to 39 in 2010. The minimum cost per admission was $9584.07. Seventy-one per cent of swabs grew Group A streptococcus, all sensitive to penicillin. Sixty-three per cent of these were accompanied by Staphylococcus aureus, which was the sole organism in 18%. Sixty-four per cent of S. aureus were methicillin resistant. There were 29 admissions for ARF and 23 with APSGN. All children with 'scabies' and ARF and all but three with APSGN were Indigenous. Pyoderma and scabies are major health burdens in North West Queensland, requiring organised community-based prevention. The number of repeat admissions emphasises the futility of in idual treatment.
Start Date: 2019
End Date: 2020
Funder: AO Foundation
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